Mission Creek Capital Partners Inc. Lowers Position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Mission Creek Capital Partners Inc. lessened its stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 42.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,044 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 2,282 shares during the quarter. Mission Creek Capital Partners Inc.’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $1,540,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. NewSquare Capital LLC bought a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Hurley Capital LLC bought a new position in UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC bought a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Promus Capital LLC bought a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. 87.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $664.00 to $563.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Mizuho lifted their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $655.00 to $525.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Barclays reduced their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $642.00 to $560.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Hsbc Global Res cut shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, UnitedHealth Group has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $603.05.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

UNH stock opened at $418.20 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $380.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.91. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1 year low of $412.02 and a 1 year high of $630.73. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $503.28 and its 200-day moving average price is $534.62.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.20 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $7.29 by ($0.09). The business had revenue of $109.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $111.56 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.60% and a return on equity of 26.69%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $6.91 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a dividend of $2.10 per share. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.01%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.18%.

UnitedHealth Group Company Profile

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated operates as a diversified health care company in the United States. The company operates through four segments: UnitedHealthcare, Optum Health, Optum Insight, and Optum Rx. The UnitedHealthcare segment offers consumer-oriented health benefit plans and services for national employers, public sector employers, mid-sized employers, small businesses, and individuals; health care coverage, and health and well-being services to individuals age 50 and older addressing their needs; Medicaid plans, children's health insurance and health care programs; and health and dental benefits, and hospital and clinical services, as well as health care benefits products and services to state programs caring for the economically disadvantaged, medically underserved, and those without the benefit of employer-funded health care coverage.